Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last couple of weeks: A long time ago I began recognizing a changing trend in counseling. Women were battling with lust and pornography too, as Carolyn McCulley affirms in her recent post, “Lust: Not for men only.” She writes: “We have a message of hope and redemption in the morass […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week: The Telegraph provide a lengthy obituary of John Stott: “He turned his own church, located just a few yards from the headquarters of the BBC, into a showplace for a renewed form of evangelicalism. Strong lay leadership at All Souls set him free to become the trainer of […]

The canary in the coal mine

Michael Wittmer recently made an observation, asked a question, and drew an application about sexual sin: There is something about sexual sin that ruins the minds of previously healthy people.… Why is sexual sin a gateway to this smorgasbord of lethal debauchery?… Sexual sin is the canary in the coal mine, the first sign that […]

Grab bag

Found around the internet in the past week — C. J. Mahaney blogs about “The Pastor and Personal Criticism.” But it’s not just pastors who need to understand the role of criticism in their lives (to produce wisdom and maturity). We can all benefit from the criticism we receive: If we could mature in wisdom […]

Grab bag

A few things I’ve spotted around the internet lately: Can six seconds a day protect your marriage? Jani Ortlund says it can — if it’s a six-second kiss. Unbelieving pastors? Say it ain’t so. And yet there are some. Perhaps (probably?) the report by new-atheist proponent Daniel Dennett is biased, but if he could find […]

Temptation and gratitude

Paul says that after putting off sexual sin (Eph. 5:3-4a), the believer is also put on the contrasting righteous action of gratitude. When tempted to sin as an expression of his discontentment with God, the believer is to consciously cultivate gratitude in his heart. How might we express gratitude in our hearts and with our […]

Sunday Leftovers (10/3/10)

In Not Even a Hint, Josh Harris has a helpful section on the lies the world system offers about sexual temptation and the truth Scripture reveals about those lies. I turned his principles into a chart that I find helpful in seeing the difference in worldviews: Or, download it as a PDF.

How specific should confession be?

Using David’s sin with Bathsheba as an illustration, David Powlison answers the commonly asked question, “how specific should my confession be (particularly with sexual sin)?” Summary: There should be no doubt about the nature of the sin — it is crystal clear what happened and allow the reality of the sin to be faced. There […]

False Messages: an e-book for women

Last year, Tim Challies wrote an e-book entitled Sexual Detox (.pdf download here). The book was designed to help men to understand the impact of pornography on their minds and hearts and to help them begin to walk with Christ in newness of life. This year, Tim’s wife Aileen has written a companion book for […]

Fighting against lust

Many years ago, John Piper gave this brief exhortation to help in the battle against lust — look at something greater than the puny desires of sinful, sexual indulgence: “The sky is a great power against lust. Pure, lovely, wholesome, beautiful, powerful, large-hearted things cannot abide the soul of a sexual fantasy at the same […]

Grab bag

Al Mohler leaves the radio, but will begin a new podcast in September. Lessons learned… Is technism the solution to our problems? John Dyer says “no.” I agree. John Bloom is concerned about ministry and money. Not the use of the money, but the desire for it. He suggests that the grace of Christ we […]

A few articles worth reading

A few articles I’ve come across on the internet recently that are worth reading. Here are the articles with some samples from each of them: “Pornography — The Difference Being a Parent Makes” Political scientists and sociologists long ago came to the realization that one of the most significant indicators of political behavior is parenthood. […]

Men and sexual sin — some Biblical help

Many years ago I attended a church where it was not unusual for the pastor to make application in his sermons that related to sexual sins. As a result I overheard some saying things like, “What’s his hangup — all he talks about is sex?” After having pastored myself for more than a few years […]

Battling temptation

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen more than one reference to articles or books like this one by Jon Bloom: It’s very important that we count the cost of sexual immorality before temptation hits. That’s the time for clear thinking. Temptation clouds our judgment. That’s why we pray “keep us from temptation.” Avoiding […]

Grab Bag

A list of collected resources, interesting articles, and even an opportunity or two from the last week: Allister Begg’s conference for pastors is always interesting and helpful. I’ve listened to the audio for the last two or three years, and this year one of the speakers is a guy named Piper. Hmmm. I won’t be […]